The continued improvement of semiconductor processes has allowed manufacturers and designers to create a smaller and a more powerful electronic devices. Semiconductor processes have advanced from a 10 μm process that was reached around 1971 to a 22 nm process technology that was reached around 2012. Semiconductor processes are expected to further progress to a 5 nm technology node around 2019. With each progression of the semiconductor fabrication process, devices and structures of integrated circuits have become smaller, which allows more components to be fabricated on a chip.
One challenge relates to the fabrication of capacitors in processes designed for ever smaller feature sizes. Manufacturers and designers of capacitors have less real estate available on the chip to fabricate the capacitors with each new generation of semiconductor processes. Manufacturers and designers have begun to explore other options that are available with advanced semiconductor technology nodes to construct capacitors that operate in a similar manner as capacitors constructed with older semiconductor process technologies without sacrificing performance.